


where the birds sing

by Tazmaster



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends to Lovers, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 18:10:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18783463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tazmaster/pseuds/Tazmaster
Summary: She nods, taking a seat next to Sam. "And does this new friend of yours have anything to do with it?""Well, you see Bucky was protecting him.""Ah, protecting him… I see," She says, "Don't I always tell you to stay out of trouble?""Yes, but---""And what am I gonna do with a troublemaker like you?" She tells him softly, a faint smile hiding behind her lips. His mother gives him a pinch on the cheek when he grins at her.---The development of Sam and Bucky's relationship through the years, starting with a pair of binoculars.





	where the birds sing

\---

AGE 12

\---

Sam sits carelessly on the tree branch, legs dangling and eyes closed. He takes in the warm breeze, appreciating the soft chirping of birds. He wonders how many surround him in that moment.

“Hey!”

Sam jumps at the sudden noise, opening one eye to peek at the weirdo who scared him. There’s a boy looking up at him, with blue eyes and brown hair. He’s holding something in his hand, but Sam can’t make it out from this angle.

“What are you doing up there?” The boy pries, squinting at him. Sam wishes he’d stop doing that. He turns away to look at the sky instead.

“I’m birdwatching.” He says to him. Why does he suddenly feel so embarrassed about that? Sam crosses his arms.

“Is that so?” The boy turns to look, hand hooded over his eyes to block out the sun. “How can you even see them from here? You got eagle eyes or somethin’?”

“I prefer falcons.” Sam says bluntly. With that, the boy looks up at him with a smirk. Sam rubs his arms.

“Well, hold these for me will ya?” He steps forward, holding out what Sam can now see is a pair of bulky binoculars. Sam reaches forward to take them from him, then watches as the boy starts to scale the tree to join him.

“What are you---?” The boy sits right next to Sam, a little too close if you as him. When their knees brush together, Sam shifts slightly.

“Well, someone’s gotta show you how to use them.” The boy says obnoxiously, taking the binoculars from him. He puts them up to his eyes and looks off into the distance. Sam tries to find where he’s looking.

“I’m Bucky, by the way.”

“Bucky?”

Bucky puts the binoculars down and furrows his eyebrows. “What? What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothin’ wrong with it,” Sam assures him, shrugging. He quite likes it actually. “I’m Sam.”

With that, Bucky gives him a wide smile.

Later, Sam’s mom asks about his new binoculars.

* * *

 

Turns out, Bucky goes to the same school as Sam.

Sam thinks he’s pretty smart, he’s good at math. Bucky is quick to help Sam with stuff he doesn’t understand, which he is great because he hates math. In return, Sam helps him with his writing, cause Bucky isn’t too good with words sometimes.

It isn’t long before Bucky starts poking him at recess.

“Do you wanna play basketball?” Bucky asks, holding it up for emphasis. Sam nods and joins him on the court.

Sam finds out that Bucky has four sisters, which he can’t remember all of their names but he’ll get them eventually. Bucky’s the middle child of them all, which Sam says completely sucks. He agrees.

Bucky wins their game, but Sam would never tell him he missed his shots on purpose.

* * *

 

A months later, a new student joins their class. His name is Steve and looks as if the wind blew on too hard he’d topple over. Kinda like the Three Little Pigs.

“My mom knows his mom,” Bucky tells him at recess. They are playing tic-tac-toe with chalk. It's boring and a bit childish, but it passes the time. Sam puts down an ‘x’ in light green. “They worked together for a bit, I think. Apparently, he’s gotta lotta health problems.”

Bucky puts down an ‘o’, falling into Sam’s trap and loses the game.

“Again?” He whines and starts making a new game.

* * *

 

Bucky doesn’t meet him at recess, which is odd because that was their routine. That is, until Sam hears loud arguing coming from the benches. He turns to see Bucky on top of one of their classmates and rushes over before he can land another hit, yanking him off.

“H-Hey, let me go!”

“Bucky, what are you doing?” Sam asks, shaking him. He doesn’t look at Sam, opting to stare at the asphalt.

“He started it,” Bucky argues, rubbing his nose. He winces looking at the blood on his hand. “H-He started making fun of Steve, started pushing him around and stuff. What was I supposed to do?”

Before he can reply, a teacher finally comes and takes all them away. Steve glances at Sam before being taken to the nurse. He can kinda make out the beginnings of a black eye.

Sam and Bucky both get sent to the principal's office instead. Bucky has his arms crossed. His nose is still bleeding, seeping into his blue t-shirt.

Annoyed, Sam gets up to grab a box of tissues off the front desk. Before handing them over, he tells Bucky, “You’re an absolute idiot.”

“What? I’m not the bad guy here,” Bucky complains, taking a tissue. He winces again. “Maybe you should be tellin’ Steve that, you should’ve heard the stuff he said.”

“I never said you were,” Sam continues. “But you’re quite somethin’ Barnes.” He pokes Bucky’s leg.

Instead of arguing more, Bucky gives him a wide smile. It’s almost identical from the first day they met.

Sam’s chest feels weird.

* * *

 

That night, he's just about done with one of his books when his mother calls him down for dinner. Sam flies down the stairs and into the kitchen, welcoming the familiar smell of mac and cheese. His mother is still wearing her scrubs from the hospital.

"Hey Sammy," She greets him, carefully spooning some macaroni into a bowl. When she places the bowl in front of him, she kisses his cheek. "How was school today?"

"Oh, you know," Sam starts, sticking his fork into the macaroni. "Just the same old boring stuff."

She hums with disbelief as she grabs a bowl for herself. "Do you wanna tell me why I got a call from one of your teachers today?"

Oh boy.

"Uh...no." He stuffs some food into his mouth.

"Samuel."

He sighs, knowing he's already lost. "A kid was getting picked on, Mama."

She nods, taking a seat next to Sam. "And does this new friend of yours have anything to do with it?"

"Well, you see Bucky was protecting him."

"Ah, protecting him… I see," She says, "Don't I always tell you to stay out of trouble?"

"Yes, but---"

"And what am I gonna do with a troublemaker like you?" She tells him softly, a faint smile hiding behind her lips. His mother gives him a pinch on the cheek when he grins at her.

* * *

 

AGE 14

\---

It's the summer before they start high school and Sam is outside in his backyard on his old swing set. Bucky said he'd come over and hang out with him soon, which feels like complete years at this point.

He makes patterns in the dirt with his shoes and wishes Bucky was better at being on time.

Sam hops off the swing and opts to peeking at his mother's garden. He admires her flowers and thinks about how it'd feel to give one to Bucky someday.

He shakes the thought away. He wasn't a kid anymore. He would never---

"Hey loser, are you here?"

Bucky walks through his backyard gate, giving Sam a bright smile. He has one of his arms around his back.

"You're a little late," Sam tells him, walking towards his swing again. "I thought you weren't gonna show up."

"You really think I'd do that to you?" Bucky asks, smile falling, but then says quickly, "Well, hey, I got you these."

He pulls out a yellow bag of butterscotch candies from behind his back and tosses them to Sam.

"I know they're your favorite." He adds.

Sam smiles and tears the package open, fishing two out and holding one out to Bucky.

Their hands brush briefly when he comes to take it and they sit in comfortable silence for a long time.

* * *

 

They are sitting in Sam's living room, watching some random animated movie on TV. Both are working on homework, so they aren't really paying attention to it.

Sam mindlessly taps his pencil on his notebook and sneaks a glance at Bucky sitting on a recliner, nose in a world history book. He thinks about how lucky he is to have his best friend, even if some days they can't stand each other. And even on those days, they could never handle being apart.

Bucky looks up and interrupts his thoughts, "What are you dreaming about over there, Bird Brain?"

"About how much I hate you." He replies instantly, with absolutely no bite.

"Oh, so you were dreaming about me?"

Sam doesn't respond, just gives him an eye roll and goes back to doing his algebra homework.

"You were totally dreaming about me." He hears Bucky mumble annoyingly.

* * *

 

AGE 17

\---

Sam and Bucky go to prom together, not as a couple of course, definitely not, but you know. Together.

They join Steve and Peggy's group, accompanied by their friend Nat and honestly, prom is fun for the most part. It was a little boring at times, but Sam just enjoys being around everyone, enjoys seeing all the dresses and suits.

They were at an afterparty now, Tony Stark's to be exact. It's loud and obnoxious, which is more so what he expected. He and Bucky are both outside on Tony's back porch, sitting on a bench together and mulling over old memories.

"I still remember when you pulled me out of that fight," Bucky says. "What was that like--- in 7th grade?"

"Yeah I think so," Sam replies, "It was Mrs. Henry that called my mom that night."

Bucky laughs and runs a hand through his hair. "I always hated her. She was a major fuckin' control freak."

"Tell me about it." Sam takes a swig from his cup, just soda, nothing too special.

"I don't think I every properly thanked you for that," Bucky says suddenly and turns to him. "So, thank you Sam. I think--- without you I might've lost an arm there."

Sam chuckles and takes another drink. "I wouldn't be so damn dramatic."

There's a few moments of silence, seconds of comfort, before he hears Bucky say, "Sam, I hope you know I would give everything to you if I could."

It's probably not a great idea that he and Bucky are sitting this close together with no one to see or hear them. The party booms inside, music and all, but seems so distant.

Sam carefully takes Bucky's hand.

They don't talk about prom again.

* * *

 

A WEEK BEFORE GRADUATION

\---

They are both lying in the grass next to Sam's swing. The sun is going down, which casts a warm glow over the world and if he could, he would take a picture. A moment in time just for the two of them.

Bucky has his hands behind his head, staring up at the sky.

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever really thought about your future? Like… what you want?"

"I mean, yeah I guess. Aren't you always supposed to be thinking about that stuff?"

"Yeah, but everyone tells you to think about college or a job or somethin' like that…" Bucky trails off and sits up to start picking at the grass. "I'm talking like...like uh---"

Sam glances over and Bucky's face flushed. He won't look at Sam and focuses intently on a blade of grass he's pulled from the ground. He starts to play with it until finally he asks, "Have you ever thought about getting married?"

Sam's eyebrows furrow. Bucky didn't really like to talk about sentimental stuff, so why was he asking about marriage?

"Of course I have." Sam says simply.

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Wilson, you're killing me here," Bucky throws his hands up childishly. He finally meets Sam's eyes. "Do you wanna get married?"

For some reason, Sam doesn't know how to answer his question. It's rather simple, but at the same time he can't help but feel Bucky is asking him something else. Or rather, he wishes he was. He thinks about Bucky in a suit, thinks about two golden bands, thinks about---

"Yeah, I do." Is all Sam can reply with. Bucky gives him a small half smile, then holds something up to Sam's face. It was a blade of grass and tied carefully to make a small ring.

"Maybe I've been misreading everything, or maybe this is the stupidest thing I've ever done and I know we aren't even dating, but I just--- I want you to know that I think about you all the time."

"Bucky---"

"Let me finish," He says quickly, "Everytime I get that question about the future… it's always with you. I can't see myself anywhere else. Like I think I'd rather die if that were to happen," Bucky tosses the ring. Then he falls back again, arms behind his head. "Not really, but god--- I really do love you."

Sam laughs at that last comment. He shifts to lean over Bucky and look him in the eyes.

"You're quite somethin', Barnes." He says with a smirk.

"Am I?" Bucky's eyes are practically glittering and Sam can't focus on anything else.

"Yeah, I think so."

Then Sam finally leans down to kiss him proper.

**Author's Note:**

> not sure if im too happy with how this came out, but i love childhood friends to lovers so i gave it a shot! thank you for reading! :D
> 
> check out my [twitter](http://twitter.com/tazisthemaster) and [tumblr](http://xandars.tumblr.com)


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